Online stores wrapping software

Four major online software stores say they will use Preview Software's new vBox "wrapper"
technology, which lets potential buyers use software packages on a trial
basis before deciding to buy them.

The announcement means that software publishers could
encrypt their software application once, then sell it through a variety of
online outlets. Software sold over the Net is often encrypted so it cannot
be tampered with as it passes over the Internet.

Preview will give its encryption tools to publishers for free, then let
them add business rules or conditions of sale separately. The company will
charge $500 for each site that sells the software.

Jeffrey Tarter, publisher of SoftLetter, said Preview's
announcement fits into a broader trend of moving away from technology vendors'
point solutions into more comprehensive solutions.

"We're getting closer to simple off-the-shelf solutions that make the
electronic software distribution (ESD) process essentially transparent for
the [software publisher]," Tarter said. "That's a big part of what
Preview is doing."

In January, Preview announced a partnership with Portland Software, another ESD
technology vendor that previously had been a competitor. The announcement
said Preview and Portland will integrate their technologies, using
Preview's "wrapper" software and Portland's Ziplock 3.0 server for selling
software online.

The ESD marketplace remains crowded--other technology vendors include
wrapper firm TestDrive and Softbank Net Solutions, which has
wrappers and a clearinghouse for keeping track of payments and ownership of
digital rights.

Industry trade group Software Publishers
Association is working on standards in specific technologies, said SPA
staffer Fran Foster, including digital receipts and digital licensing
certificates. It also is surveying consumers, publishers, and resellers to
identify trends and attitudes about ESD.

Tarter believes standards, while important, are not critical to ESD's
success.

"The market has survived with a multiplicity of wrapping techniques. It's
not a killer, it's nuisance, and that's not what's stopping ESD," Tarter
said.